Jazz Articles

Silver Ash: Silver Ash

by Glenn Astarita
November 5, 2011

Brooklyn, NY-based drummer Jeff Arnal also runs Generate Records, a label steeped in a vastly experimental paradigm, featuring works by pianist Gordon Beeferman, reedman John Dierker, and a host of well-known improvisers. During the past few years, Arnal has been issuing 7" LPs which, in most instances, yield a classic analogue spectrum, enhancing the organic or electro-organic soundstage and enriching or perpetuating a three-dimensional listening space. Long considered one of the premier free jazz and improvising drummers, Arnal ...

Jeff Arnal & Gordon Beeferman: Rogue States

by Tom Greenland
March 13, 2007

Percussionist Jeff Arnal and pianist/composer Gordon Beeferman, two-thirds of Rara Avis (an ongoing trio with alto saxophonist Seth Misterka) and previously featured as a duo on 2001's Bodies of Water, meet again for Rogue States, a short suite of open-minded musical vignettes.

As on their earlier outing, Arnal and Beeferman eschew timbral trickery and sensational sound painting in favor of exploring and expanding on the more “traditional" acoustic palette of the drum kit and piano; unlike Bodies and Rara Avis' ...

Jeff Arnal/Gordon Beeferman/Seth Misterka: Rara Avis

by John Kelman
March 25, 2004

Consisting of three relatively wet-behind-the-ears yet nonetheless daring improvisers, Rara Avis is notable for its obstinate devotion to pure instrumental sounds. Most artists working in the modern creative/avant-garde area of jazz are want to use prepared instruments, play inside the piano box or bow cymbals; here percussionist Jeff Arnal, electric pianist Gordon Beeferman and saxophonist Seth Misterka stick to a more traditional approach. Still, they manage to coax a variety of sounds out of their respective instruments, creating an inventive ...

John Dierker-Jonathan Vincent-Jeff Arnal: Spy Satellite

by Glenn Astarita
August 1, 2002

It all started in Baltimore, MD back in 1992, where the musicians had studied with composer Stuart Saunders Smith at various points in time. Yet, this release represents the trio’s first recording. Multi-reedman John Dierker has become a major improvisational stylist while New York City-based Jeff Arnal is rapidly becoming one of the premier drummers in the free jazz arena. The equally exciting pianist Jonathan Vincent rounds out the trio, whereas the musicians’ agenda might be akin to a succession ...